Using a Bridging Technology is Backward

Bridging technologies are not intended to replace native HTML semantic features. Detouring HTML accessibility technical requirements into an "Accessible Rich Internet Applications" bridging specification is backward.

WAI-ARIA is a Bridging Technology

The Introduction to ARIA clearly states,


The Protocols and Formats (PF) Working Group's Charter states,




The idea was that native mechanisms would enrich the vocabulary of the language, thus rendering ARIA increasingly unnecessary.


WAI-ARIA Goal and Dangers

A significant goal of WAI-ARIA is to:


WAI ARIA should only be used as a last resort when content can't be made accessible using the host language. Everett Zufelt commented on HTML5 Doctor,

There are huge dangers in using ARIA instead of natively supporting accessibility in HTML5, these are not technical in nature. The longer the broader development community, such as the HTMLWG, ignores accessibility, or thinks that others like the PFWG / WAI will take care of it for them, the longer we will need technologies like ARIA to fill in the blanks.

Karl Groves illuminated the main point in his article "Confusion over HTML5 & WAI-ARIA",

The HTML specification is the shortest path to true accessibility

HTML is the direct route.

Henri Sivonen has stated,


In other words ARIA is bandage meant to patch.



Shirking Off Long Description Semantics to ARIA



